POLITICO Tech

How much energy does AI use? A lot, actually

Episode Summary

Artificial intelligence consumes a lot of energy. Exactly how much is hard to say, because AI companies keep much of that information hidden – a practice that some policymakers and activists are trying to change. On today's episode of Politico Tech, Steven Overly called up Jesse Dodge to better understand the energy and climate cost behind generative AI. Dodge is a senior research scientist at the Allen Institute for AI in Seattle, who not only develops large language models, he also studies their electricity usage and CO2 emissions.

Episode Notes

Artificial intelligence consumes a lot of energy. Exactly how much is hard to say, because AI companies keep much of that information hidden – a practice that some policymakers and activists are trying to change. On today's episode of Politico Tech, Steven Overly called up Jesse Dodge to better understand the energy and climate cost behind generative AI. Dodge is a senior research scientist at the Allen Institute for AI in Seattle, who not only develops large language models, he also studies their electricity usage and CO2 emissions.